Doddy was charged Tuesday with the July 1 killing of Tonya Bargman, 44, of Monticello, Lee County State’s Attorney Anna Sacco-Miller announced during a joint news conference with Winnebago County State’s Attorney Joe Bruscato.

Bargman was strangled and water was found in her lungs inside a Willow Creek rest area restroom on Interstate 39 in Paw Paw. Although Bargman died of asphyxiation, it is unclear if Bargman was choked to death or was drowned in the bathroom, Sacco-Miller said.

“Asphyxiation can be caused by multiple things — by drowning, by strangulation,” Sacco-Miller said. “It’s basically cutting off your airway ... there is evidence of water in her lungs. Whether she was actually drowned or not is hard to say. There were signs she was strangled as well.”

In Lee County, Doddy is accused of first-degree murder, robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle and concealment of a homicidal death.

The charges are very similar to what Doddy is facing in Winnebago County where he has pleaded not guilty to the June 30 slaying of high school friend Todd Hansmeier, 37. Conviction on those charges could mean 20 years to natural life in prison. He faces a similar sentence if convicted of Bargman’s death.

He is also charged with the June 18 aggravated domestic battery of his wife.

Judge John Truitt is expected to preside over Doddy’s Winnebago County trial. Doddy’s court-appointed attorney, Bradford Morrison, asked for a judge other than Judge Rosemary Collins and Chief Judge Joseph McGraw.

Two substitutions are allowed under Illinois law for homicide cases.

Doddy will appear in a Lee County courtroom Wednesday morning and before Truitt in Winnebago County in the afternoon. Sheriff’s police from both counties will coordinate Doddy’s transportation.

Police arrested Doddy on July 4 after a high-speed chase ended in the Town of Beloit in Wisconsin. Police say Doddy crashed Bargman’s car into a tree.

Hansmeier’s Chevrolet Cruze, believed to have been stolen from outside an Alpine Road call center in Rockford where Doddy worked, was found abandoned at the rest stop. Hansmeier’s body was found at the call center.

Legally, Doddy must have two trials, one for Hansmeier and one for Bargman, Bruscato said.

But in a rare move, Lee and Winnebago counties will share prosecutors in both trials.

“It doesn’t happen very often,” Bruscato said. “The cooperation you see more often with prosecutors is more behind the scenes because prosecutors are helping each other out as colleagues. This happens to be much more in the public purview, but it fits the situation and is very appropriate.”